CAT hiding under the bed too long!

by Pat Baskin
(California)

hello,

my name is Pat, and I adopted a cat from a neighbor, which she kept this cat outdoors, and her other two cats indoors, neighbor says that the cat I adopted always wanted to come inside the house, but, she wouldn't let it. therefor, she was going to call the animal shelter to pick her up.. and I decided to take her to my boyfriends house, which is a 4 bedroom two story home, and he is on a oxogen tube continuessly.. the machine makes a little noise .. i'm thinking that she is still hiding under bed, since I brought her home about 3 weeks ago... because of that machine. Although she was very friendly when I met her and I made a big mistake trying to catch her and put her in carrier. she flipped out, which I understand, so i gave up, and the neighbor put her in carrier, and I took her to the vet, checked her out, had shots, etc. The vet employees loved her and said she would make a wonderful house cat.. which I knew.. but, she still hides under the bed in which my boyfriend sleeps in.. At night she will jump up on his bed and play for a while. all day she is under the bed.. I have her food bowl, water, and litter box near the bed, as well as downstairs. After spending about four hours on the floor talking calmly to her and telling her i was sorry about what i did.. she came out and layed on floor next to me reaching out her front leg to touch me.. and she rolled over , showing off, having fun with me, then she came up to me while i was still on floor , and she rubbed her head against my head... for about 3 mins... I thought I had broke thru to her.. not so.. she still is under bed. what do I do?? Please help me.

Answer by KAtebless her heart she sounds like a lovely cat just a little more nervous than some.

I think it is quite understandable that she is seeking comfort in her hiding place as she has a had a lot of changes in her life recently i.e being inside instead of out, being in a new home with different smells etc, the noise form the machine, different people etc etc.

Having said all that you are doing the right things for her, letting her come to you rather than the other way round. It does sound however that this cat will lots molre time to build her confidence. You shouldn't worry about this just let her do things in her own time.

I don't know if you have read my pages here about bonding and playing with a indoor cat etc but you may find them of some help here are the pages

http://www.our-happy-cat.com/new-cat.html

http://www.our-happy-cat.com/indoor-cats.html

http://www.our-happy-cat.com/cat-toys-play.html

Lets hope that she finds her feet soon which i'm sure she will in time.best wishes Kate